Web jargon, in plain English.

A

API

An application programming interface — a defined way for two pieces of software to talk to each other and exchange data.Also written as: application programming interface

C

CMS

A content management system — software that lets you create, edit and organise the words, images and other content on a website without writing code.Also written as: Content Management System, content management system

Core Web Vitals

Google’s set of speed and stability metrics — such as how quickly content appears and how stable it is — that affect both user experience and search ranking.

G

Git

A version control system that tracks changes to code over time, making it possible to undo mistakes, experiment safely, and collaborate without overwriting each other’s work.

H

Headless CMS

A content management system that stores your content separately from the page that displays it, so the same content can feed a website, an app, or any other front-end.

Hydrogen

Shopify’s framework for building headless storefronts with React, letting developers build a fully custom front-end that talks to Shopify behind the scenes.

I

ISR

Incremental Static Regeneration — a Next.js feature that serves a cached, pre-built page and quietly rebuilds it in the background, so updates appear without re-building the whole site.Also written as: Incremental Static Regeneration

L

Liquid

Shopify’s templating language — the tags and filters used to build the layout and logic of a Shopify storefront theme.

R

RSC

React Server Components — a way of rendering parts of a web page on the server so they ship little or no JavaScript to the browser, keeping pages fast.Also written as: React Server Components, Server Component, Server Components

S

SEO

Search engine optimisation — the practice of making a site easy for search engines like Google to understand, so it ranks well for relevant searches.Also written as: Search engine optimisation, search engine optimization

SSR

Server-side rendering — generating the HTML for a page on the server before it reaches the browser, so the page loads with its content already in place.Also written as: Server-side rendering

Storefront API

Shopify’s API for reading a store’s products, collections and cart data so a custom front-end can display and sell them.

V

VPS

A virtual private server — your own slice of a server’s resources, offering more control and reliability than cheap shared hosting.Also written as: Virtual Private Server

W

Webhooks

Automatic notifications one system sends to another when something happens — for example, a store telling a fulfilment app that a new order has arrived.Also written as: Webhook